Series 3 freezing and reboots

Yeah with me having Time Warner Cable and having to get cable cards just to get the digital & HD channels to come out I realized getting a Tivo wasn't such a good idea.
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Getting a Tivo would be a much better idea if you weren't on Time Warner.

You still haven't given us your location but most TWC systems use SDV which means you also have to use a Tuning Adapter, or you'll be missing up to half your channels. TA's are furnished free by TWC but they cost a lot in aggravation. And you can't count on TWC to know you need a TA or to give you much help with it.

Getting a Tivo would be a much better idea if you weren't on Time Warner.

You still haven't given us your location but most TWC systems use SDV which means you also have to use a Tuning Adapter, or you'll be missing up to half your channels. TA's are furnished free by TWC but they cost a lot in aggravation. And you can't count on TWC to know you need a TA or to give you much help with it.

CableCARD is needed for all cable providers.

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The Tivo that I have gets both analogue and digital cable. Since I have Time Warner Cable-been with them since '99-I've been pretty satisfied with them. I know I'm weird for saying that but it's true.

I did have to get those things and nope had no clue how to set it up. Like I said I back away from electrical stuff.
That's why I say getting that Tivo was a bad idea. It's more of a hassle to get all of the channels I have to work with this thing. I'm still trying to figure out what was I thinking when I wanted to get this. I fell for that 'cable box' replacement b/c it doesn't replace the cable box.

The Tivo that I have gets both analogue and digital cable. Since I have Time Warner Cable-been with them since '99-I've been pretty satisfied with them. I know I'm weird for saying that but it's true.

I did have to get those things and nope had no clue how to set it up. Like I said I back away from electrical stuff.
That's why I say getting that Tivo was a bad idea. It's more of a hassle to get all of the channels I have to work with this thing. I'm still trying to figure out what was I thinking when I wanted to get this. I fell for that 'cable box' replacement b/c it doesn't replace the cable box.

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With the use of cable cards, a TiVo newer than a Series 2 does replace your cable box for digital cable.

(If you still have analog cable, any (non-DirectTV satellite receiver TiVo) TiVo-except maybe the new Series 5s--can tune that just fine, even without a cable card)

TWC does not want you to own a TiVo, they want you to have no choice but to rent cable boxes and DVRs from them, which is to say after you pay them for the cable signal (since they're the only cable company available at your address), they want you to pay even more to be able to actually view the cable signal.

(To me that's reason enough to own a TiVo right there.)

Cable cards are what keep you from being completely at their mercy.

A few years back there were TVs made that could use cable cards so that you could use the TV's remote to change digital channels on the TV's tuner instead of having to feed it from a cable box and juggle remotes.

Digital cable channels do not have to be encrypted or encoded or otherwise be made unavailable unless you do something more than just connecting to the cable itself, but the cable company wants it that way so that they can effectively "disconnect" you while sitting at a computer back in an office somewhere instead of having to send a tech in a truck out to your house to physically remove the cable line. It also lets them leave the cable hooked up when you move out and only "turn it on" for the next person living there if they actually sign up for service.

Cable cards make it possible to have a system like that while still letting you use your choice of equipment instead of having to settle for renting theirs.

Unfortunately, when the original Series 3, which is the model you have, design was finalized and they started making them and offering them for sale to the public the S cards, which only serve a single tuner, were the norm, and the design and specs of the M cards (designed to serve multiple tuners) were not fully finalized.

As a result, the first S3 can use either an S card in each cable card slot, one for each tuner, or it can use an M card in place of either or both, but even if it's an M card, it can only serve one tuner, so for that model you need 2 of some kind of cable card to be able to use both tuners on digital cable channels.

That's not really TiVo's fault.

(The later Series 3 platform models, the ones without the clock/now recording display, the Chevy Impalas to the original's Cadillac Coupe De Ville, can get by with only one M card for both tuners, as can the S4s and S5s)

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Digital cable channels do not have to be encrypted or encoded or otherwise be made unavailable unless you do something more than just connecting to the cable itself, but the cable company wants it that way so that they can effectively "disconnect" you while sitting at a computer back in an office somewhere instead of having to send a tech in a truck out to your house to physically remove the cable line.
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And how idiotic that TWC (at least my TWC) is notorious for sending a truck out, sometimes with a delay of almost a week, in response to problems that can be fixed by the person sitting at the computer back at the office, e.g., they just need to properly provision your account and send the right signals to your equipment. This situation has been eased somewhat by the availability of the TWC national CableCARD help desk, where they actually know a little bit about TiVo's and can send the required signals directly. This is also who you need to talk to to self-install your CableCARD. Their number is:
866-532-2598Rikki don't lose that number! (Steely Dan, 1974)

Yeah, my Tivo was getting channels with no problems. It actually picked up more analogue channels than I thought. I went and got the converter and cards and they were able to send the signal to my Tivo w/o any problems. I like this model b/c it has a clock on it. I'm not a fan of DVR's, VCR's, or anything like the Tivos that don't have a clock to it.

I'm STILL waiting on my capacitors. I should've went to Radio Shack first. I guess I fell for that seller who stated that they do fast shipping when in fact I don't see anything that suggests they shipped it yet....grrr.

Radio Shack doesn't carry low ESR capacitors and if they did they certainly wouldn't be reasonably priced.

The eBay seller might have sent them by 1st class mail and/or with only delivery confirmation. Those shipments don't really have any tracking data and appear like they haven't been shipped and then they just show up...usually.

Radio Shack doesn't carry low ESR capacitors and if they did they certainly wouldn't be reasonably priced.

The eBay seller might have sent them by 1st class mail and/or with only delivery confirmation. Those shipments don't really have any tracking data and appear like they haven't been shipped and then they just show up...usually.

Edit: I hope you didn't order them from overseas sellers.

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Glad you told me that. I would've walked in there talking like I know some stuff and they would be looking at me like .

I most definitely didn't order those caps from over seas. They had good prices on them but I was like 'no'!

My caps have arrived. I can't do anything like I want b/c my mother-in-law's birthday is today and we're going to celebrate with her.
Hopefully my brother-in-law will be able to attack this thing tomorrow. Now I'm like a little kid, anxiously awaiting for something great to happen.

Glad you told me that. I would've walked in there talking like I know some stuff and they would be looking at me like .

I most definitely didn't order those caps from over seas. They had good prices on them but I was like 'no'!

My caps have arrived. I can't do anything like I want b/c my mother-in-law's birthday is today and we're going to celebrate with her.
Hopefully my brother-in-law will be able to attack this thing tomorrow. Now I'm like a little kid, anxiously awaiting for something great to happen.

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Nowadays the people working at Radio Shack aren't likely to know anything about electronics, either.

In fact, now that you know that there are general purpose electrolytic caps and specialized versions like the low ESR ones, you probably know more than many of them.

(they can probably still whip you big-time in a cell phone contract form filling out contest, though )

.......... I went and got the converter and cards and they were able to send the signal to my Tivo w/o any problems.........

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By "converter" you mean the Tuning Adapter, I assume.
The real test is if you can reliably tune all the channels you're supposed to get (after fixing the power supply). If not, call the TWC national help desk.

By "converter" you mean the Tuning Adapter, I assume.
The real test is if you can reliably tune all the channels you're supposed to get (after fixing the power supply). If not, call the TWC national help desk.

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See, I told ya I'm not savvy in the electronic field. I can't even tell the difference between a tuning adapter & a converter...sheesh.

Well I'm waiting to see if my brother-in-law can assist with my Tivo today. I don't want to pressure the guy but by golly I'm impatient.

Yeah...mine's haven't been fixed yet. When I told my brother-in-law how many caps that should be replaced he looked defeated. I'll be lucky if I could get the three that needs to be replaced replaced. So as I sit and wipe the dust off my Tivo daily I may never know if it will be repaired or not. : (

Yeah...mine's haven't been fixed yet. When I told my brother-in-law how many caps that should be replaced he looked defeated. I'll be lucky if I could get the three that needs to be replaced replaced. So as I sit and wipe the dust off my Tivo daily I may never know if it will be repaired or not. : (

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Just tell the lazy bum to lend you his soldering equipment and do it yourself.

It's about the easiest and simplest soldering job anyone will ever come across.

OK...since joining this thread I have been patiently waiting for my brother-in-law to help repair some capacitors in my Tivo. I've tried not to mention or pressure him but each time I say the word 'tivo' he skips to a different subject which led me to believe he's not going to fix it. Soooo, I've taken it upon myself to purchase a soldering iron with a base and a solder vacuum sucker. I've been watching several videos on how to use a soldering iron and how to replace a bad capacitor but they all dealt with TV repair. It looks fairly simple which I'm confident that I will be able to fix this. I have my victory dance and theme music waiting.
Had I known my brother-in-law wasn't in the mood to help me I would've tried to fix this a long time ago.

May I recommend that you go to Radio Shack (or Fry's, etc.) and look for some cheap DIY project that you can practice soldering before you actually start working on the Tivo power supply.
You may wish you had, if you don't.